The Visual Enthymeme: Power, Premise, and Proposition

In The Rhetoric of Visual Arguments by J. Anthony Blair, he theorizes a connection between visual persuasion and arguments; specifically to see how visual arguments can exist within rhetoric (p. 42). His explanation and examples of the visual enthymeme really piqued my interest with regard to this theory. An enthymeme, according to Blair, is, “an argument in which the arguer deliberately leaves unstated a premise that is essential to it’s reasoning” (p. 41). Additionally, “the connecting of the audience to the argument is what makes the enthymeme a rhetorical form of argument” (p. 41).

In traditional written or speech rhetoric, arguments function by supplying reasons for a point of view (p. 45). The reasons are propositions which are standardly expressed by language. Therefore, propositions have a truth value. By asserting a truth, the propositions must be backed up by evidence (p. 45). According to Blair, the visual concept of argument then, should not stretch too far from the traditional concept of “argument” (p. 45).

Since the visual can be ambiguous and not always contain propositional content, visual arguments can exist, but the images must be true or false. To have truth value, it must also be propositional (p. 47). In addition, premise & conclusion propositions in visual argument are also needed (p. 48). The most powerful visual arguments are both visual and verbal, and must, “constitute some factor that can be considered a reason: 1) for accepting or believing some proposition, 2) for taking some other attitude, or, 3) for performing some action” (p. 49).

Take this visual/verbal enthymeme for example:

This visual argument provides what Blair calls, “evocative power - bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind” (p. 51). Here, the narrative capacity is very powerful. It provides a sense of realism as the symbolism registers immediately (attack dogs induce fear), it resonates with and relates to the beliefs of the appropriate/intended audience (here, perhaps a solicitor or criminal -- the solicitor doesn’t want to get hurt and the criminal doesn’t want to get caught), and it predicts the nature of the audience’s participation (most likely leaving the premises immediately to avoid bodily harm) (p. 53). The unstated premise here? If you can’t run faster than a vicious guard dog, you’re going to get hurt. Run!

PONG: One Little Girl’s Memoir

Growing up in the seventies, the arrival of the Sears Catalog brought eager excitement to my brother and me every holiday season. We would circle toys we wanted for Christmas and beg our parents to no end for the things we wanted. We didn’t always get what we wanted, but one year we did... and it changed everything. PONG had arrived in our home. Oddly, I never played video games beyond the age of 16 however, being a kid in the era of the invention of the home video game was pretty amazing. And the story of how PONG came to be is even more fascinating. 

Mark P. Wolf’s book The Medium of the Video Game introduced me to Nolan Bushnell, my new childhood hero. Utilizing his engineering expertise, spare parts from work, a used black and white television, and his daughter’s bedroom as a workshop, Bushnell created his first video game, Computer Space. This was in 1971, when imaging technologies were minimalist. Using vector graphics to create a two-dimensional game using only iconography (dots, squares, and rectangles), it still met all the requirements of a video game: conflict, rules, player ability, values outcomes, and the identity of the computer as a player.

Bushnell then partnered with an investor and they created their own company, Atari, which in Japanese means “check” in chess (p. 25). In 1972, Bushnell created PONG, “a tennis-like game featuring two paddles swatting a ball back and forth.” (p. 25). The prototype’s mode of exhibition was a coin-operated game placed in a bar. It was a huge hit (pun intended). Atari entered the home market in 1975 with the console television version of PONG, striking a deal with Sears to sell the product. With Atari’s invention of the Video Computer System (VCS) cartridge console system, the microprocessor chip technology allowed for greater consumer affordability and cheaper production, resulting in record sales during the Christmas of 1978. One of those sales that year? Our purchase. 

To my brother and I, PONG was unbelievable, like men landing on the moon. And while video game technology has immeasurably surpassed the likes of PONG, it still seems cooler to have been a part of the very first video game boom. Intrigued? You can play PONG too. Just click here: FREE PONG!